Sheet-spacing machine



Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. ,PFLANZE SHEET-SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5Sheets-Sheet l WM Q .0 U m J- hm k & w Q o 0 o "mu Nhmu n 3% b H a 0 a RM: I a o 0 \& MW. 0 am INVENTOR. CHARLES E PFLANZ'E ATTORNEY.

Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. PFLANZE 2,255,084

SHEET-SPACING MACHINE INVENTOR. CHARLES F. PFLANZE ATTORNEY.

Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR CHARLES F. PFLANZE 3ATTORVEY.

P 1941- c. F. PFLANZE 2,255,084

SHEET- SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 VQJV FIG 11INVENTOR. CHARLES E PF LANZE ATTORNEY.

Sept. 9, 1941. c. F. PFLANZE SHEET-SPACING MACHINE Filed July 6, 1940 5Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. CHARLES F. PFLANZE ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 9, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHEET-SPACING MACHINECharles F. Pflanze, University City, Mo.

Application July 6, 1940, Serial No. 344,191

6 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sheet-spacingmachines of the type used for separating stacked or piled sheets orblanks and forwarding them in a regularly predetermined, overlapped,spaced relationship for printing, glueing, stamping, or the like.specifically, this invention comprises a simplified form of rotarysheet-spacing mechanism, in which a pile of sheets are removablysupported in a holder and whereby the forward end of the lowermost sheetis adapted to be seized upon its underside by means of an oscillatorysuction arm and lowered into the bights formed by a pair of upper,laterally spaced roller segments with a lower, single, elongated roller.The machine desirably includes a pair of intermediate, rotary, separatordisks and reciprocatory stop pins serving to separate and retain thesuccessive upper sheets until seized by the suction arm. The sheets,upon being brought down into the bight of the upper roller segments andthe lower roller, are by means of the rotary frictional contacttherebetween forced forwardly onto spacing and conveyor belts, whichtend to advance the overlapped sheets away from the rollers. A forwardlyextended spacing arm, having an aligned, adjustably depended surfaceguide strip, is pivotally mounted upon the upper rear portion of themachine and is spring set so as to be normally forced downwardly uponone of the aforementioned belts. A roller is adjustably depended fromthe spacing arm freely astride the depended guide strip so as to berotated by the central spacing -belt. As the sheets are moved forwardlyonto the belts, being guided thereon by the guide strip, they passbeneath the before-mentioned rollers whereby the sheets are spaced in aregular, overlapped relationship thereto, this spacing, or calibration,being retained by means of additional conveyor belts coming into contactwith the surface of the sheets. The spacing of the sheets is governed bythe speed of the aforementioned belts.

In general, this invention has for its object to eliminate theobjectionable Geneva or reciprocatory type of intermittent movement ascommonly employed in this type of machine, and to substitute therefor atrue rotary motion for feeding the blanks into the spacing device,thereby reducing the wear and vibration of the various parts of themachine. This, quite naturally, increases the efllciency of the machineand speeds up production, and assures a higher degree of accuracy of themachine at a materially increased speed of operation.

More

Another feature of this invention is to provide a constant drivingsystem for the spacing and conveyor belts wherein all the belts arecaused to travel at thesame constant rate of speed, which may berelatively increased or decreased as may be desired in spacing in fannedout position the envelope blanks, and in which is employed a pair ofexternal gears which may be easily and rapidly changed so as to increaseor decrease the belt speed, thereby increasing or decreasing the spacingof the blanks to cause a greater or lesser amount of exposed surface.

It is an important object of the invention to provide an apparatus forarranging and advancing sheets in fanned out relation which comprises,in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, roller mechanismcomprising opposed rotary members for intermittently gripping sheetsbetween them to advance the sheets step by step, means for periodicallyplacing the leading margins of the sheets from the stack one afteranother in the space between the rotary members, subsequently actingmechanism for engaging and advancing each sheet only after it has beenadvanced through a plurality of steps by the roller mechanism, and meansfor holding stationary, during the periods when the rotary members arenot in sheet gripping relation to one another, the partially advancedsheets between the rotary members which have become disengaged from thestack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in such periods.

With the foregoing and such other objects in view as will later appearin the specification, reference will be had to th accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fi 1 is a side view of the machine as viewed from the operator'sposition, this being the side of the machine on which the operatorpositions himself, and as here shown the successive machines andconnecting belts have been removed.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine as viewed from the opposite side ofFig. l, a motor drive being here shown.

, Fig. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of the machine as viewedin Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial angular, top view, partly in section, of the head ofthe machine, showing the feeding mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a partial top view, partly in section, of the head of themachine, showing the spacing mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, vertical, medial, sectional view through theupper part of the machine as viewed from the side.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, perspective view of the fixed type of segmentalroller as shown on the machine.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, partial longitudinal, sectional view of thespacing device.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of a form of suctiondevice adapted simultaneously to hold in place a series of envelopeblanks.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged, perspective view, of an adjustable typesegmental roller.

Fig. 11 is enlarged, transverse, sectional view of the ratchet blankholder, the outer end of the oscillatory suction arm being showntherebelow.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the reciprocatorystop pin cam and arm that operates in synchronization with the separatordisks.

Fig. 13 is an enlarged, partial rear view of the suction arm, actuatingcam, and follower mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a side view of Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged, sectional view of an alternative form ofmechanical device for holding in place a series of envelope blanks.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the mechanical sheet-holding device.

Fig. 1'7 is an enlarged top plan view, showing the mechanical device forcontacting the envelope blanks when the forwarding mechanism isineffective, and thereby preventing any displacement of the blanks thathave not been advanced sufficiently to pass beneath the calibratingroller.

As here shown, the machine comprises, in general, a pair of base ormounting frames A and a head frame B. A power shaft I8 is transverselyjoumaled through the rear, vertical portion IQ of the base frames nearthe bottom thereof and, as here shown, is connected to a motor drive 20by means of a belt 2l whereby the power shaft is supplied with motivepower. A sprocket gear 22 (Fig. 3), rigidly mounted upon the powershaft, is connected by a sprocket chain 23 to a similar sprocket gear 24keyed to a shaft 25 journaled through the front, lower part of the headB, both of the aforementioned sprocket gears being positioned within theframe of the machine at one side thereof. A spur gear 26, injuxtaposition with the sprocket gear 24 upon the shaft 25 and adapted tobe driven in unison therewith, is provided for driving a gear 21 mountedupon a shaft 28 (Fig. 3). This shaft 23 has a sprocket gear 29 securedupon its outer end externally of the frame on the operators side of themachine (Fig. 1). A similar sprocket gear 30, secured upon a shaft 3|journaled transversely of the head, is adapted to be driven by the gear29 by means of a connecting sprocket chain 32. An elongated roller 33,medially positioned within the headupon the shaft 3|, is provided and isadapted to be rotated at a uniform rate of speed by the sprocket 30, thefunction of which will be later explained. (See Figs. 1 and 15.)

A pair of spaced segmental rollers 34 are provided in vertical alignmentwith, above, and in resilient contact with the aforementionedcylindrical roller 33, and are rigidly mounted upon independenthorizontal stub shafts 35. These segmental rollers, each comprising anattachment hub 36 and an integrally extended, semicylindrical, orpartially cylindrical, body or roller portion 31 (Fig. '7), are adaptedto be rotated in unison with one another and at a constant rate of speedby means of sprocket gears 38 secured upon the outer extremities of thestub shafts 35, the sprocket gears 38 being connected by sprocket chains39 to similar sprocket gears 40 upon the outer ends of the shaft 25(Figs. 1 and 2). Thus it will be seen that these rollers, i. e., theupper and lower rollers, are operatively positioned so as to be rotatedin unison inwardly toward the rear of the machine, whereby the blanksupon being positioned within the bight of the rollers will be drawntherebetween one at a time and forced rearwardly a predetermineddistance, as will be later explained.

Conventional separator disks 4|, mounted upon angularly positioned stubshafts 42 transversely Journaled in brackets 43 and through the head at43 (see Fig. 4), are provided atop the machine and are adapted to bedriven by horizontal shafts 44 by means of intermediate bevel gears 45(Figs. 4 and 6), the shafts 44 being continuously driven by gear trains46 driven by gears 41 on the shaft 35 on either side of the machine(Figs. 1 and 2). Reciprocatory stop pins 48 (Fig. 12) actuated by theconventional cam and follower system 49 operate in synchronization withthe separator disks, both the separator disks and stop pins serving toseparate and retain the unused blanks in the conventional manner, aratchet blank holder 56 (Figs. 1 and 6) being provided for retaining theblanks until drawn downwardly, as will be later explained.

An adjustable cross type blank or sheet holder is provided beneath theseparator disks for supporting the blanks 5| as fed to the machine (Fig.6). This holder comprises a bottom plate 52 medially and angularlypositioned within and parallel to the base frames A, the upper, arcuateend 53 being directed toward the bight of the aforementioned rollers andthe lower end being secured to a cross-bar 54 (Fig. 6), which is in turnsecured to the base frames A, a trans versely positioned guide arm plate55 slidably mounted upon the bottom plate, and a pair of guide arms 56(Fig. 4) each slidably mounted upon either side of the guide arm plate,each guide arm having a guide pin 51 rigidly secured thereto andextended perpendicularly upwardly therefrom. A horizontal guide strip 58(Fig. 6) is extended from the upper, arcuate end 53 of the bottom plate52 inwardly between the rollers so as to prevent the forward ends 59 ofthe blanks falling downwardly and away from spacing and conveyor beltsvon the rearward sideof the rollers, the operation and use of which willbe later explained. The arcuate end 53 is provided for the purpose ofbending the sheets transversely just before they pass over the guidestrip 58, and by this means to prevent sidewise displacement of saidsheets. A recess 60 (Fig. 6) is formed in the lower roller for thereception of the guide strip 58 so that the upper surface of this stripwill be flush with the top of the roller.

The bottom plate 52 is formed with a series of equally spaced suctionholes 6| which are distributed at equal intervals over a length of thesaid plate substantially equal to the height of the longest envelopeblank (Figs. 4 and 5). These suction holes are sufficiently numerous andare located sufficiently near to one another so that suction will beapplied to the exposed lower trailing margin of each blank of theoverlapped series which has not been advanced to a position clear of theroller segments 34, even when very short segments are employed. Acaswhich communicates with a source of suction" A through a tube 82.Anadjustable valve plate 580 is, provided which may be slid forward tocover one or more of the suction holes 8| as desired (Figs. 6 and 9).

A suction arm 63, provided with a telescoping tubular extension 83'fitted therein and secured by a set screw (Figs. 4 and 6), (adjustableto differing lengths of sheets), is rigidly mounted upon a tubular shaft84 and has anair duct 84 communicating therewith, and is journaledacross the head B, and adapted to be reciprocated below the stackedblanks so as to intermittently draw the lowermost blank downwardly intothe bight of the rollers 33 and 34, the suction for this arm beingobtained from any suitable source and connected thereto by the hose 85pivotally attached to the tubular shaft 88. The above suction arm shaft53 is oscillated by a conventional cam and follower system such as shownat 88 externally. positioned upon the far end of the shaft 28, thefollower being pivotally connected to the tubular arm by the crank 81(Fig. 4).

A sprocket gear 68 is rigidly aforementioned power shaft mounted on theI8 within the frames A and is connected by means of a sprocket chain 89to a-large sprocket gear 18 securedupon a shaft 1| journaled between theside frames A in the horizontal webs'D thereof (Fig. 3). The shaft H hasa small spur gear 12 secured thereto adapted to mesh with and drive arelatively larger gear secured upon a stub shaft 14 journaled throughone of the adjacent webs C, the gear 13 being also within the sideframes A. A quick change type gear 15 secured in any conventional mannerupon the stub shaft 14 externally of the machine is provided and isadapted to mesh with a mating quick change type gear 18 secured upon ashaft 11, the shaft 11 being through the vertical webs E (Fig. 2). Thisshaft 11 (Fig. 3) has a small spur gear 18 secured thereon within theframes A at one side thereof. A gear 19, similar to the gear 18 and inmesh therewith, is secured upon a shaft 88, this shaft being dependedfrom the upper part of the side frames by means of hangers 8|. Thus itis seen that these spur gears 1819 are directly driven in opposition toone another by the spur gears 15 and 18, and that the speed of theformer may be changed by changing the ratio of the latter gears, theadvantage of which will be later shown.

A pair of endless belts 82 (Fig. 3) are provided upon and about theshaft 11 in a spaced, transverse relationship to one another, and travelupwardly and rearwardly about spaced rollers 83 (Fig. 5) journaled upona shaft 84 secured atop the head B at the rear thereof, andtravel'downwardly about the rear of a drum the machine, on I theoperator's, side,- the, Said sprocket being connected .by means ofasprock et chain 94 toa sprocket gear 85 upon the shaft 11 by means ofwhich this system, that is, the drum roller-85, is operated atlthe samesurface speed as the shafts 11-88, the shafts I'l 80.

being regarded'as rollers. A similar pair of endless belts 981sprovlded'about the shaft 88, as

shown in Fig. 3, the path of travel being upwardly over the surfaceplate 88 atop the belts 82, about the drum roller-r85 beneath the. belts82,

upwardly over the drum onto a bed plate 91, forwardly over a roller 98,journaled upon a shaft 99, and downwardly about the shaft 88, an idlerjournaled transversely the frames A v type roller 85 secured upon ashaft 86, journaled through the head at 81 (Fig. 1), whereupon the wardeach other at the same rate of speed, the

speed of which may be varied by changing the ratio of the gears 18-15.The rate of speedof the belt 8I may be changed as desired by anyconventional gear change, so as to expose more or less of the fanned outportions of the blanks.

A spacing or calibrating mechanism I83 (Figs. 1 and 8) is provided atopthe bed plate 91 upon the belt I8I,for spacing the blanks as they passtherebetween. This spacing mechanism consists of a forked arm holder I83pivotally and medially mounted upon the shaft 84 by means of theapertured forks I84, the juncture of-the forks or body portion I85having a borewhat similar in appearance to the forked arm- 7 holder, isslidably positioned upon the arm I81 by virtue of a bore II8 extendedthrough the body portion ll thereof, a wing bolt H2 being provided forreleasably securing the carriage to the arm I81. A pair of rollers H3are rotatably mounted within a pair of forks H4 depended from the bodyportion III of the carriage and are adapted to ride upon the centralendless belt I8I until the blanks 5| come in contact therewith,whereupon the blanks intermittently pass thereunder, this being thepoint at which the blanks are rearranged or respaced to expose theamount of surface actually desired A guide strip I I5 of such width asto permit it-to be nicely yet freely positioned between the spacingrollers H3 is providedand is extended forwardly to and between thespaced segmental rollers 34 (Fig. 6) and in horizontalalignment with thebight thereof for guiding the blanks beneath the spacing rollers, theforward portion IIG being curved upwardly for this purpose, there beinga slot 1 formed therein for the reception of the suction arm 83 on itsdownward stroke (see Fig. 4). This guide strip has an upwardly extendedpin 8 for insertion into a holder H9, a cap screw I28 being provided forsecuring the pin therein (Fig. 6). The holder II! has a bore I2Iextended therethrough by means of which it is positioned uponthe arm,I81, a cap screw I22 being provided v therein for securing itupon thearm (Fig.8). v

A coiled expansion spring I231(Fig."8) has its upper nd positionedinarecess or niche I24fin the rearward underside, of the body portionI85 of the forked arm holder I83, and has, itslower end positionedoverfa, pin I25 integrally formed ing immovably secured to the shaft 34,within the forked arm holder, bymeans of a capscrew I21.

The normal action of this spring tends to force the spacing rollers andguide strip downwardly upon the belt IllI, thereby assuring a perfectspacing of the overlapped blanks.

In the operation of this device the blanks to be fed to the machine, andspaced in a superposed arrangement, are evenly and orderly stacked uponthe blank holder, whereupon the guide pins 51 are adjusted so as to holdthe blanks snugly yet releasably' against the ratchet blank holder 50.then moved forwardly or backwardly upon the spacing arm IIII accordingto the length of the blanks to be fed to the machine, and thepositioning of these spacing rollers may be done by calibrating thespacing arm or bytrial and error. Next the correct set or pair ofsegmental feed rollers are selected, and secured upon their respectiveshafts, thereby determining the intermittent travel of the blanksbetween the feed rollers. Finally the correct set of spacing gears(gears I5 and are selected and secured upon their respective shafts,thereby governing the speed of the conveyor or endless belts. Afterthese adjustments have been made, the machine is set in operationwhereupon the oscillatory suction arm seizes the lowermost blank andpulls it downwardly through the rotating separator disks Thspacingroller carriage I09 is.

with a spring holder I23, said spring holder bethe depth of the windowaperture. The holding down of the sheets is preferably accomplished inmy device by the suction holes OI provided to hold down the overlappedblanks, the vacuum holes being placed in relation to the overlappedblanks so that the vacuum will be exerted against the exposed rear edgeunderportion of each exposed. sheet. Such holding down of the sheets maybe mechanically accomplished as an alternative, as will be hereinafterset forth.

The adjustable segmental roller I29 consists of a body portion I30,similar in shape to that of the fixed segmental roller, upon which issecured by screws I3I, or the'like, a plate I32 of the same radius ofcurvature as the body portion, various sized Plates being provided sothat the depth of the segment is less than the depth of the windowaperture in the blank'being fed through my de- 4I into the bight of theupper segmental rollers 34 and the lower cylindrical roller 33. Uponbeing drawn downwardly into the bight of these rollers, the blank ispulled down onto the bottom blank holder plate 52 where it is slidablyretained by virtue of the continuous suction maintained thereat by thehose 52 connected thereto. As-the blank is drawn into the rollers 33 and34 it is forced forwardly by the frictional contact of the i rollersrotating. inwardly toward one another away from the stacked blanks. Inthe meantime the suction arm has returned to its upward position,thereby completing a cycle of operation. As the blanks areintermittently discharged from the continuously rotating feed rollers,they are forced betweenthe guide strip II5 of the spacing mechanism andthe rearwardly moving endless belts by means of which the first blank iscarried into contact withthe spacing rollers H3, at which point theblank definitely assumes the speed of the endless belts therebelow, thespacing rollers holding the blank in firm contact therewith. Inasmuch asthe endless belts are moving at a slower rate of speed relative to thefeed rollers, the blanks assume a definite and constant superposed,overlapped relationship to one another, which is maintained byadditional conveyor belts until it is no longer desirable.

As shown in Fig. 10, a modified type of adjustable, segmental roller isshown that is intended to replace the aforementioned fixed type ofsegmental rollers 34 when the feeding and spacing machine is to be usedin connection with blanks or sheets having window apertures of varyingdepths, which are difficult to withdraw from the pile if the advancingsegment is deep enough to withdraw the blanks a greater space thanslightly less than the depth of the aperture of the window. Theoperation of these modified segmental rollers is, however, similar tothe operation of the segmental rollers 34. This leads to the adoption ofa series of easily removable and replaceable plates of different depthsadapted vice, in order to prevent the catching of the rear edge of ,thewindow aperture of the blank being advanced against the forward edge ofthe window aperture of the blank in advance of and beneath the blankbeing advanced by the segmental rollers.

By the mechanism which I have set forth and described above, I amenabled to maintain an exact longitudinal alignment of the advancing,overlapped sheets in a true rotary manner, as distinguished from thestart and stop movement of the reciprocatory or Geneva type, whereby Iprovide asimple machine and increase the productive capacity thereof.alignment is always exact, as well as the spacing of the overlappedsheets, it preserves the proper synchronization of the spacing unit withthe folding or other succeeding units.

In the alternative mechanical device (Figs. 15, 16-, and 1'7) forholding in place the series of envelope blanks which may be substitutedfor the suction holding means previously described, a stationary shaftI33 is mounted in a boss I34 of the frame A, said shaft being positionedtransversely ofthe machine. A rocker arm I35 is journaled upon thisshaft and is held thereon by means of collars I35, one on each side ofsaid rocker arm. The collars I36 serve to permit the rocker I35 to bemoved lengthwise on the shaft I33. One of the collars I36 has a lug I31extended therefrom for holding a spring I38 against the rearward end I39of the rocker arm I35, the purpose of this spring being to normallyforce the forward end of the rocker arm I35 downwardly. A roller I40 isprovided at the forward end of the rocker arm I35 to engage the camsurface I upon the segmental-roller 34. Another roller I42 is mountedupon a shaft I43 and adapted to be moved in or out and held in positionupon the shaft I43 by collars I44. The shaft I43 is rigidly mounted atthe lower end of a member I45, which is adapted to be moved lengthwiseon the rocker arm I35, a thumb nut I45 being provided for locking themember I 45 in any desired position upon the rocker arm I35.

The top blank S as shown in Fig. 15 is just being released from thefeeding action of the segments 31 of the segmental rollers 34, and theroll- As the longitudinal rollers 34 are ineffective. Blank S has partlyadvanced beneath the calibrating roller H3 and is moving on with theother blanks S and S to the other portions of the mechanism. It may benoted, incidentally, that my machine is designedto operate upondiamond-shaped blanks, therefore it may be assumed a setting of thebrackets I45 longitudinally of the arms I35 and a setting of the rollersI42 longitudinally of the shafts I43 will cause the leading margin ofthe top blank S to lie beneath the rollers I42 in the position of Figs.15 and 17, but the trailing margin of the bottom blank S, as previouslyidentified, is already clear of the position in which it could begripped by the rollers I42. As shown in Fig. 17, the rollers I42 willengage the leading margins of the blanks S, S, and S and escape pressingagainst the trailing margin of the bottom blank S Thus the bottom blankS can be drawn forward by the belt IIII while the three blanks whichoverlie its trailing margin are clamped stationary by the rollers I42.Much of my machine is of the well known, conventional type as to beltfeeds and speed-changing devices, so that such mechanism will be readilyunderstood by those skilled in the art.

In using this alternative form of mechanical device, the overlappedblanks are moved forwardly by the segmental rollers 34. As the segmentalrollers 34 rotate, the cam I4I raisesthe rocker arm I35, the rollers I42also being raised, permitting the overlapped blanks to pass between therollers I42 and a lower member M when the segmental rollers 34 areefiective. When said rollers 34 are inefiective the cam I4I has rotatedto a position where the rocker arm I35 is lowered, thus permitting therollers I42 to contact and press upon the sheets therebeneath.

In Fig. 17 I have shown in an enlarged top view, somewhat fragmentary,the arrangement of the alternative mechanical device for pressing downupon the envelope blanks when the segments 34 have rotated intoineffective position. It will be noted that the rollers I42 are notpressing upon any portion of the lowermost blank S but are pressing uponblanks S, S, and S when these blanks have been released from theadvancing movement caused by the engagement of the segmental rollers 34with said sheets. It will be noted that the lowermost sheet S isimmediately passing into the bight of the calibrating roller II3 as itbecomes freed from the segmental rollers 34 and the pressure rollersI42.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No.286,737, filed July 2'7, 1939, for Sheet spacing machines.

I claim:

1. In combination, means for supporting a stack of blanks, rollersegment mechanism comprising a roller segment and a roller opposedthereto for intermittently gripping blanks and advancing them from saidstack, picker mechanism for successively introducing the blanks from thestack between the roller and the roller segment, said roller segmenthaving a circumferential extent smaller than the shortest blank of saidstack so that said blanks are advanced by said when segment mechanismstep by step and in overlapping relation, and suction means for grippingthe exposed trailing margins of a plurality of blanks which have beenadvanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism but whichstill require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanism inorder to be moved clear thereof, to hold everyone of such blanks againstshifting during the periods when the roller segment runs out ofco-acting relation with the roll- 2. In combination, means forsupporting a stack of blanks, roller segment mechanism comprising aroller segment and a roller opposed thereto for intermittently grippingblanks and advancing them from said stack, picker mechanism forsuccessively introducing the blanks from the stack between the rollerand the roller segment, said roller segment having a circumferentialextent smaller than the shortest blank of said stack so that said blanksare advanced by said roller segment mechanism step by step and inoverlapping relation, and means for yieldingly gripping the blanks whichhave been introduced between the rolls and disengaged from the stack andwhich have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segmentmechanism but which still require to be advanced one or more steps bysuch mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold every one ofsuch blanks against shifting during the periods when the roller segmentruns out of co-acting relation with the roller.

v3. In an apparatus forarranging and advancing sheets in fanned outrelation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, rollermechanism comprising opposed rotary members for intermittently grippinsheets. between them to advance the sheets step by step, means forperiodically placing the leading margins of the sheets from the stackone after another in the space between the rotary members, subsequentlyacting mechanism for engaging and advancing each sheet only after it hasbeen advanced through a plurality of steps by the roller mechanism, andmeans for holding stationary, during the periods when the rotary membersare not in sheet gripping relation to one another, the partiallyadvanced sheets between the rotary members which have become disengagedfrom the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled in suchperiods;

4. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned outrelation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, rollersegment mechanism comprising roller segment means and roller meansopposed thereto for intermittently gripping the sheets and advancingthem step by step through steps equal in extent to only a fraction of asheet length, means for periodically introducing the leading margins ofsheets from the stack one after another between the roller segment meansand the roller means, subsequently acting mechanism for engaging andadvancing each sheet only after it has been advanced through a pluralityof steps by the roller segment mechanism, and means for gripping thesheets which have been advanced one or more steps by the roller segmentmechanism, but which still require to be advanced one or more steps bysuch mechanism in order to be moved clear thereof, to hold stationary,during the period when the roller segment means runs out ofsheet-gripping relation with the roller means, sheets which have becomedisengaged from the stack and which would otherwise be uncontrolled insuch period.

5. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned outrelation, in combination, a support for a stack of sheets, rollersegment mechanism comprising roller segment means and roller meansopposed thereto for intermittently gripping the sheets and advancingthem step by step through steps equal in extent to only a fraction of asheet lentt means for periodically introducing the leading margins ofsheets from the stack one after another between the roller segment meansand the roller means, constantly running mechanism for engaging eachsheet only after it has been advanced through a plurality of steps bythe roller segment mechanism, and advancing it continuously in fannedout relation with the sheets which have preceded it, means for grippingthe sheets which have been advanced one or more steps by the rollersegment mechanism but which still require to be advanced one r moresteps by such mechanism in order to be, oved clear thereof, to holdstationary, during ithe period when the roller segment means runs out o!sheet-gripping relation with the roller means, the sheets which havebecome disengaged from the stack and which would otherwise beuncontrolled in such period.

6. In an apparatus for arranging and advancing sheets in fanned outrelation, in combination, roller segment mechanism comprising rollersegment means and roller means opposed thereto ior intermittentlyslipping the sheets has been advanced through a plurality of steps bythe roller segment mechanism, means ion gripping the sheets which havebeen advanced one or more steps by the roller segment mechanism butwhich still require to be advanced one or more steps by such mechanismin order to be moved clear thereof, to hold stationary, during theperiod when the roller segment means runs out or sheet-gripping relationwith the roller means, sheets which would otherwise be uncontrolled insuch period, and means for moving the gripping means to an effectiveposition as the segment means becomes ineffective and for moving thegripping means to an ineffective position as the segment means becomeseffective.

CHARLES F. PFLANZE.

